Paradox Engine
by Taking a Mawile
Summary: Ruby is a suicidal teen with a lot of personal demons. Weiss is the daughter of the CEO of one of the largest companies in the world. They only have one thing in common on the day they meet: they both died the night prior. As the day goes on, the pair starts to realize that things aren't quite as they remember, and that they were suddenly a part of something much bigger. Modern AU.


A bottle of pills and a bottle of whiskey. She was one hundred percent positive that she had downed both last night, had felt her body shut down and her mind slip into an eternal rest. She had done the research and everything! What must have been almost thirty of the migraine med, a barbiturate, were taken with healthy swigs of the burning whiskey she had pilfered from her uncle. The fire in her throat felt so real...she could remember it too vividly for it to have been a dream. Yet, there she was. Awake, healthy, and clad in her rose-decorated pajamas. A glance at the clock showed the time to be six in the morning, much earlier than she usually woke up since she graduated from high school early a few months prior.

The sixteen-year-old girl grimaced as her thoughts focused on the present. Her suicide attempt had somehow failed, and there was no doubt that her father and Qrow would notice the missing bottles sooner or later. Speaking of which, Ruby Rose let her eyes roam her room, looking for the empty pill and alcohol bottles that betrayed her so. Unable to find them from her position, she grunted in a rather unladylike fashion and crawled out of bed. She had to dispose of the evidence and claim innocence while thinking of a more reliable way to finish the job.

Ruby Rose was depressed. Not in a pathetic, moping way. No, the girl had been diagnosed long ago with Major Depressive Disorder, though she hid the true extent to which the mental illness messed with her psyche. Medicines prescribed to help her felt like they did nothing, and one even seemed like it made her suicidal thoughts worse. Between the pain she felt, varying from aches and joint soreness to migraines and stomach problems, and the utter lack of energy, proper sleep, and willingness to participate in social activities, she felt that she was better off just ridding herself from the earth. Exercise didn't help much, though she did like how her toned body looked in the mirror. Constant anxiety, stress, and the mental and physical pain that came with them made the girl irritable and unable to enjoy herself. Card games, video games, weapons training...she loved them dearly, but even those things grew boring over time and lost her interest.

Snapping out of her straying thoughts, she finally realized that the bottles were nowhere to be found. Under the bed, around the bed, on and in the desk and closet, she checked everywhere and just could not find either of them. The cloud of anxiety, so familiar to the girl, began to settle in her head, whispering of the awful things that could have happened. She didn't want anyone to know until it was too late, she didn't want to be alive when they found out! She hurriedly opened her door and slipped out into the hall, careful to make as little noise as possible so as to not wake her sister or father. Making her way to the closet where they kept their medicines, she opened the drawer where she had grabbed the pill bottle the previous night.

To her extreme surprise, the bottle was in there. With plenty of pills still in it, too! It looked to be roughly the same amount as there was when she had started taking them the night before, if not the exact same amount. Ruby started to hear a strange noise, and it took her a moment to realize that her hands were shaking from the panic and confusion welling up inside of her. Biting her bottom lip, she put the bottle back and closed up the drawer and closet, slinking back into her room to gather her thoughts. She didn't dare to speak aloud, sitting down in her desk chair and putting her head in her hands. The pills were as if she had never touched them, and the whiskey was probably the same way at Qrow's place. It was undoubtedly the day after, she had checked the date on her clock and phone twice over each. The whole situation was giving her a massive headache, and she wanted to do nothing more than go back to bed for a few more hours. Instead, she heaved a sigh and started to get ready for another day of internal suffering. She'd just have to mask her emotions behind an indifferent facade as usual.

* * *

Weiss Schnee opened her eyes wide, waking with a start. Covers were flung off of her body as her breathing got heavy, arms defensively covering her chest. Vivid memories of gunshots, the sight of her father's blood splattering against the white limousine, painting it a horrid red. The feeling of metal ripping through her body, skin and muscles being sliced apart by a jagged edge as hands groped at her, pinning her to the ground. Her own blood pooling beneath her as they rummaged through her pockets and purse, shouting at one another. Her life fading with her vision, slipping from the grasp of her weakened, tired mind.

Blue eyes softened as they refocused on the present moment, the white-haired girl gasping for air in the safety of her bed. Comfortable, loose night clothes clung to sweaty skin as the young woman tried to understand what exactly was going on. The feelings, the memories...they were much too real for her to even consider that it was a dream. Those White Fang thugs' faces were burned into her mind, the sound of gunshots and screams ringing in her ears still. Her hands shifted from her defensive pose to check herself for wounds, mouth hanging open in disbelief when she realized that her skin was unmarred other than the old scar over her eye.

Watery orbs turned their attention to the bed stand to look at the digital clock, taking her a moment to discern the numbers and letters displayed through her tears. Six in the morning, huh? The normal time she got up, yet it seemed so much different than any other morning. The date told her that it was the next day, but her mind couldn't believe it. Surely the death she experienced was more than a dream, yet she was there, safe in her home with nothing out of the ordinary other than her memories. Laying back and resting her head, the eighteen-year-old sighed heavily while arranging her erratic thoughts. Evening out her breathing, using the control exercises she learned to compose herself. In through the nose, out through the mouth. A cycle.

Minutes ticked by before she felt comfortable enough to get out of bed, grabbing a change of clothes from her walk-in closet and heading to the shower to get ready for the day. Whether it was a realistic dream or something else, she couldn't just mull over it in bed all morning. She had things to do, and a walk in the city after some paperwork would do wonders to clear her head. A small frown marred the Schnee's face, not looking forward to doing her part to help her father with his business when she felt so distracted and distraught. Perhaps that walk should come first, right after her shower. Her father would understand, she was sure.

* * *

Silver eyes met blue for the first time. An inconspicuous street corner, with people milling around, going about their days. But for the two teens, time had stopped. The brown-haired girl and the white-haired beauty had never seen each other before that moment, and had no real reason to feel any connection. Despite this, their eyes met for a moment that lasted ages, silently connecting the two through some sort of unspoken comradery. Ruby ignored the people around her, wading through them like she was trudging through a river. Blue eyes kept contact with her, and pink lips pursed into a small frown as memories of the night before flitted in their heads. One remembered the despair she felt lifting as the drugs and alcohol mixed poorly, a death of her own making. The other remembered the fear she felt, the panic of being stabbed and torn apart while her father bled out mere feet away from her.

Time went on around the two girls without them, none of the random populace bothering to pay attention to the strange pair. Ruby stood awkwardly, hands hanging at her sides, near a frowning Weiss at a cafe's table. Both of them had just gone out for a walk to clear their heads of the strange occurrences from the night prior, no real destination in mind. Neither believed in something as silly as fate, but the strange pull they felt toward the other was something different than either had felt before. The two stared in silenced, neither willing to break the quiet between them. A few minutes passed before Ruby decided she couldn't take it anymore, her blank visage morphing into a small grimace.

"My name is Ruby Rose. Have we...met somewhere before?" The silver-eyed teen couldn't find the energy to disguise her emotions, letting the stranger see the pain and confusion in her eyes.

"Weiss Schnee. And I don't believe I've ever seen you before, miss Rose," the CEO's privileged daughter responded, frosty gaze softening as she read through the emotions in those tired eyes. "You look troubled, are you all right?" The woman felt no need to add that she, herself, felt quite troubled as well. They could read each other like open books for some reason, like they'd known the other for ages.

Ruby narrowed her eyes and scoffed, pushing away the anxiety that came from conversing with the strange, older teen. "Just a strange dream, nothing unusual. And just call me Ruby, it's easier than way. You look pretty bothered yourself, no need to be formal." She recognized the name Schnee, not many wouldn't be able to place it. Such a large company had their hands in many resources, and Schnee was basically a household name at that point.

Weiss bit her lower lip at the mention of the other girl having a strange dream. "I see. I'll admit, I'm quite distracted this morning. A similar situation to you, I suppose. An odd dream, and unfortunately vivid." A shudder ran up her spine, and it surprised her that she let such an emotional response show to the young woman she'd never met.

Ruby couldn't hold herself back, and spewed the absurd thought out right away. "Did you die last night, too?"

Blue eyes widened to comical proportions before squinting into a glare. "How did you know that?" Wait, did she say 'too'?

The pair went back to staring at the other in silence, a heavy disbelief common between the two. And while they tried to find the words to explain themselves and the way they felt, the clock struck eight.

* * *

Author's Note: This is a story that is basically just an outlet for the absurd and strange ideas in my head. Chapter lengths and post times will most likely vary greatly, and the storyline may not seem to be going in a linear direction. But there is an actual plot to this in my mind, one that might be hard to follow...or just a straightforward rush to the end. If you like it and want to read more, great. Leave a review and tell me what I can improve and what ideas you have. If you don't like it, cool. This is just a way to empty my brain and get some alternative writing practice. Please point out any spelling or grammar errors if you find them, as proof-reading your own writing is bound to fail from time to time. Thank you.


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